Dispensing containers with dip tubes are used to store and dispense a range of personal care products. These include hand soaps, hand and body lotions, shampoos and body cleansing gels. There is a constant need to enhance the appearance of these containers. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,937,554, 6,073,373 and 6,233,856 the appearance is enhanced by a decorative film material placed within the container. A design on this decorative film material coordinates with a design on the front and/or rear surface of the container. This gives a 3-D appearance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,600 discloses attaching a figurine to the dip tube of a dispensing container. And U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,566 discloses a cylindrical section surrounding the dip tube and depending from the cap area of container, this cylindrical section having a decoration thereon. The objective in each of these patents is to enhance the appearance of the container and the product in the container.
The present invention improves on the techniques of these patents to enhance the appearance of a container and its product. In the present invention, the dip tube is molded to contain a multi-dimensional design. This technique simplifies the manufacture of dip tubes that have an attached identifiable shape since the dip tube and identifiable shape are made in a single operation. This is in distinction to where the dip tube and multi-dimensional shape are separately made and then assembled.